Rotary steam-engine



(No Model.) I 4 Sh-eets-Sheet 1.. S. G. BROSIUS.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

No. 463,267. Patented Nov. 17.1891.

WITNESSES.

. was.

IN I/E IV TOR ATTORNEY.

(N6 Model.) 4Sheets-Sheet 3.

S. G. BROSIUS. I

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. No. 463,267. Patented Nov. 17,1891.

WITNESSES:

X44 Adam,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

S. G. BROSIUS.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE.

Patented Nov. 17,1891.

A TTORIVEY.

X1 WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL GLENVILLE BROSIUS, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

'ROTARY STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,267, dated November17,1891.

Serial No. 378,063. (No model.)

To all 1071 0771 it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL GLENVlLLE BROSIUS, of the city of Savannah,county of and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of the specification, in explaining its natureand construction.

This invention relates to improvements upon the rotary engines shown inmy patents, Nos. 445,038 and 445,039, dated January 20, 1891.

The cylinders in the engine set forth in this application rotate ontheir axes, and the pistons, one being used in each cylinder, passthrough the circumference of their respective cylinders, each being heldin position by cylindrical guides, which are j ournaled in the sides ofsaid cylinders. The pistons are keyed or attached to and revolve withthe shaft whose center is eccentric to the axes of the said cylinders.The distance between the axes of the said pistons and the said rotatingcylinders is such as to allow the hubs of the pistons to be packedsteam-tight against the inner periphery of the said cylinders byautomatic packing. Said automatic packing is held out against the innerperipheryof the said cylinders, as will be set forth in thisspecification. This packing is composed of a packing-rin g and twoexpansion-rings around the hub of each piston. Each cylinder has onepiston, whose hub extends over that por tion of the shaft which passesthrough its respective cylinder. Said expansion-ring is so constructedas to allow it to adjust itself to any inequality of the inner peripheryof said rotating cylinder or to any wear in the journals of the shaftwhereby the axes of either shaft or cylinder is thrown out of line.

In engines of this class as heretofore constructed, except in theenginesdescribed in my applications above referred to, the steam is admittedbetween the outer casing and the periphery of the inner rotatingcylinder. This cylinder performs, ordinarily, the function of abutmentor packing. Such a construction brings about great loss of steam due tothe condensation caused by the action of the cylinders.

of cold air upon the greater external surface without a casing, and alsothe greater area contained between the rotating cylinder andouter'casing as compared with the area of the rotating cylinder itself,and also necessitates packing the pistons against the inner periphery ofthe outer casing, thereby causing great friction due to the centrifugalforce of the packing against the said outer casing. This friction andloss due to the condensation above described is overcome in theseengines in a similar manner to that used in my previous construction.The friction is further reduced by eliminating all internal journals andcausing the cylinders to revolve upon and between two fixed heads insuch a manner that the cylinder is used simply as a casing in which thesteam operates, said pistons operating upon or driving the shaft by adirect action.

Among the several objects of this invention is to overcome the frictioncaused by the travel of the pistons through the cylindrical guides whenthe shaft is driven by the rotating cylinder, as are the constructionsin the above application referred to.

A second object is to overcome the friction caused by the thrust broughtto bear upon the rotating shaft by the tendency of the heads (onerotating and the other stationary) to separate when understeam-pressure, as will be seen by reference'to the above-mentionedapplication. This I overcome by making both heads stationary andrevolving the cylinders on and between them.

A third object is to obtain a steam-tight packing simple in constructionaroundthe respective hubs of the pistons.

A fourth object is to so arrange the cut-off that the engine may bereadily reversed.

. A fifth object is to take up the wear in said cylindrical guides andalso in the journal of said guides in the rotating cylinder, as shown inthe accompanying drawings.

These and other objects are accomplished by the construction shown inthe'drawings, hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rotary engine, part being in sectiontaken through one The section is taken on line in a horizontal position,but in Fig. 2 they are shown perpendicular. Fig. 2 is a cross-section oftheright-hand cylinder through line 0c,the

piston and guidein theleft-handcylinderbeing shown in broken lines. Fig.3 is a cross-section of the rotating cylinder upon the line 00 :20 ofFig. 4. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the rotary cylinder, part insection on line .1 m of Fig. 3.

to Fig. 5 is a side view of the cylindrical guides.

Figs. 6 and 7 are end views of the cylindrical guides. Fig. 4 is asection of said cylindrical guide along its longitudinal center line.Fig.

9 is a cross-section of the cylindrical guide at 00 {r of Fig. 8. Fig.10 is an end view of cylindrical guide, showing the wedging-place.

Figs-11 and 12 show the steam-tight capwhich is placed over thecylindrical guide on the rotating cylinder. Figs. 13 and 14 show thepacking-strips which are used to pack-the piston on the face and sidewithin the cylindrical guide. Fig. 15 is a cross-section of the rotaryengine, on line 50 00 o'f Fig. 1, showing the arfrangenrents of thesteam-chestwith the valves and cut-otf for the reverse motion. Fig. 16is a cross-section of the steam-chest and cut-off,

showingthesteam-chestandcut-off online 00 of Fi'gJ15. Fig. 17 shows thearrangement of the eccentric and the-compound link and 0 throwing-bar.Fig. 1'8 shows an end view of theright-hand cylinder, thepilloW-block'and the .jour-nal-box'beingremoved from the lefthandside offigure. Fig. 19 is an elevation of Fig-18, showing the pillow-block and.journal- 5 box. Fig. 20isafrontelevation of oneofthepistons. Fig; 21isan end view of one of the pistons. Fig.22 is a frontview of one of thepistons, showing packinginposition around the hub. Fig. 23 is an endview of-Fig. 22. Fig.

0 :24 shows the expansion-ring. Fig.25 shows a cross-section of Fig. 24on line a 50 .Fig.

26:shows an elevation of the expansion-ring.

Fig.2? shows an 1 elevation of the packingri'n-g. -Fig. 28 shows an endview of the pack- 5 tug-ring, and Fig. 2.9 is a cross-sectionshowing-springs in expansion-ring.

Like letters of reference indicate like'parts in" all the figures, andthe same scale has been 'kept throughout the drawings, except in-Figs.

5o 13, 14, and 29.

--In Fig. 1 the shaft G is journaled in the boxes 10 It, said boxesbeing held in pillowblocks K. The outer stationary headsD D may be Inadesolid with the pillow-blocks, as 5 5 shown. The inner stationary heads DD" are secured to each other by the bracket H. This bracket is also usedto hold the steamchest in position, and forms the casing around theshaft 0, Fig. 15. The revolving cylinders (two being used inthisillustration) are journaledon and between their respectivestationary heads. Said stationary heads have journal-disks f whichextend inwardly and form journals upon which the cylinders re- Volvo.

"F F are rotating cylinders provided at their ends with the annularplates f f, which are fastened by bolts F to flange F of the cylinder.The inner periphery of the annular plates support the cylinder upon thejournaldisks upon which the cylinder revolves.

C is the shaft upon which the pistons are keyed or securely attached.Said pistons may be set opposite to each other, as shown in Fig. 2. Saidshaft is packed steam-tight in the outer stationary heads by thestuffing-boxes c and glands d, and provisions have been made to adjustthe journal-boxes K, so that .the shaft 0 maybe raised or lowered,thereby bringing the respective packing-rin gs around the'hubs of saidpistons in proper contact with the inner periphery of the rotatingcylinders. This adjustmentis made by the setscrews and clampnutsshowninsaid pillowblock-sand journal-boxes K K. Thestuftingboxes are soconstructed that they may be adjusted-to the shaft 0.

WF are the packing-disks, and are securely fastened to-their-respectivestationary heads. These. packing-disks :in their pe'ripher-iesxareprovided with packing-rings-P, which pack said disks steam-tightagainst' the inne'r periphery of saidrotating cylinders. The chief p.11rpose of these disks is to give an unbroken surface against-which topack the edges of the said pistons. The cylinders are notrjournaled onthese disks, but, as pointed out, merely pack them attheirends. Thejournals of said cyli nders, as above described, have the annular platesf fi-said plates revolving on the journal-diskf f of theirrespective-stationary heads to the saidrotatingcylinders. These journalsare made as-small as feasible,

so that the'leverage of friction caused-by the rotating cylinder maybereduced to a mininnuin.

This reduction is effected, as will be readily seen, by .the decreasingleverage of the ournal as compared with thedianieter t of therotatin gcylinder.

'throughwhich the pistons pass are provided with grooves, which containthe packing P 1P This packing is provided with grooves 19 19 throughwhich the packing P of the-pistons passes. These cavities p p are forthe purpose of allowing the packing1P -P of the pistonto pack againstthe said packing-disk f f without being interfered with by saidpacking-strips. Thesaid cylindrical guides have the cavity P P for thesamepurpose. The packing P also contains the cavity 19 to hold thespring in position, which sets it outagainst its respective edge of thesaid piston. Said packing-strip is shown in Fig. 13. The packing-stripsP are placed within grooves provided in the faces of the slot S S asshown in Fig. 9, and pack against the respective face of the pistons P,as shown in Fig. 13. Packing-strip P is also provided with cavities, inwhich are placed the springs which hold it out against said face of thepistons. The packing-strips P P, as shown in Fig. 9, are located nearthe. inner edge of the slot S 5 that is to say, the edge nearest to thecenter of said rotating cylinder-so as to cut off all unnecessary steampressure, which would otherwise cause friction. As will be seen, S is acavity along the inner edge of said slot for the same purpose. P P arepackingrings in the ends of the said cylindrical guide 5. As shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the cylindrical guide is placed in the side of the saidcylinder, and is journaled at each end in the journal-box L and L.

The cap L is held in position by the bolts L. The cavities L are made inthe journalfiange ff of the rotating cylinders F and F to facilitate theplacing of caps L in position.

P is packing placed along the cylindrical guide and extends between thepacking-rings P and P and is in the inside journal in which saidcylindrical guide oscillates to pack it steam-tight in the said rotatingcylinder on that side against which the live steam is admitted. Packingshould not be used on the exhaust side of said guide. This is to reducethe friction which would be caused by steam getting between the guideand its journal.

The cap N is placed so that it will act as a cover and retain any steamwhich may escape through the packing of either of the cylindrical guidesor around said guides. This cap is secured to the cylinder, as shown inFig. 2. The piston is composed of a wing and a hub, which may be madesolid, as shown. This wing has the cavity A and A through which theexpansion-wings a, and a pass. This expansion-ring is held out from thehub and in position by the springs a The pins a pre vent the springsfrom moving endwise. The packing-ringer is securely attached to the saidexpansion-rings. The springs a allow for antomatic adjustment whetherdue to inequalities in the inner periphery of the rotating cylinders orthe disalignment of the axis of either of the rotating cylinders orrotating shaft. The packing-wing a is cut or split at (1. and isprovided with the wing-strips a which bear against the faces of thepistonwings. Ring Ct may also be split, if found advisable. Thepacking-ring a has at both ends packing a, which packs it steam-tightagainst the packing-disk. Said packing-ring also has cavities to containthe packing of a to pack the longitudinal edges of said packin g-rin gagainst the faces of the wings of said pistons. As will be seen in Figs.3, 20, and

. 21, the said rotating cylinder and said piston are provided withcounter-balances, respect ively, F and A As shown in Figs. 15 and 16,two steamchests H and H are so located that steam may be admitted toeither the exhaust or steam arrow in Fig. 2.

ports. This arrangement makes the engines reversible. When the steam isadmitted at port y, the engines revolve, as indicated by the Whenadmitted at Y, it revolves in an opposite direction, the steam escapingfrom that port that is not used as a live-steam port. Each steam-chesthas its port so located, as shown in Fig. 16 at y 11 that one stroke ofthe valve makes the cut-oif and admission. This will be readily seen byreference to Figs. 15 and 16. The steam enters at y, first passesthrough the port and escapes at y, acting within the said right-handrotating cylinder and on its piston. That port is then closed by thevalve and steam is admitted at 1 and passes through port y actin gwithin the left-hand rotating cylinder and on its piston, the steam inboth cylinders escapin g at their respective exhaust-ports. Thesteam-pipes ,2 q admit steam into their respective steam-chests throughthe channels 2 and q. These pipes may be closed or opened into saidchannels by the oscillating valve 2 and When closed, the said channelsbe come the passage for the exhaust which passes out at e or grespectively. These valves .2 g are operated by levers g to throw thebar T by rods T The levers a" and g are so connected and arranged thatone steam-passage with its respective exhaustpassageis open at the sametime-that is, the

steam-passage z is open while the steam-passage q is closed and theexhaust-passage a is closed while the exhaust-passage g is open' so thatthe steam may pass through the port on one side, acting on apistonwi-thin the rotating cylinder and escapes at the other.

The valves h and 7L2 are operated by eccentrics R R. The throwing-bar Tis so arranged that the link ois held stationary and its respectivevalve is thrown down and out of the way, so as to leave the ports openwhen the ports of that steam-chest are exhausting.

The other steam-chest, which is then the inlet steam'chest, has itsvalve in operation by being connected with its eccentric through itslink 0'. It will be seen that by reversing this throw-bar the action isreversed-that is,

the link and valve which was acting as the exhaust is thrown intoaction, while that which was acting as a cut-off is thrown down,

leaving its port open'so that it may be used as the exhaust, which ofcourse reverses the engine. a

R and R are the eccentrics.

r and 1- are the eccentric-rods.

T is the throw-bar.

U U U are the cranks and are-provided with the wrists 0 and 0respectively, which operate the cut-off through the action of the link 00.

71 h are the connecting-links ate the valve-sten1s h 71..

7t 72,2 are the valves.

H H are the stationary heads of the steamchest. t t j 11 H are thestea-n1-chests. Brackets H H hold the steam-chest in place, also actingas braces to the inner stationary head of the rotating cylinders andform the covering around the rotating shaft 0.

J J are the outer casings and hands, which protect the said rotatingcylinders from the cold air, thereby reducing condensation.

I do not confine myself to this identical construction, as it is obviousthat slight changes may be made in the details, and while two cylinderswith their respective operatin g parts have been shown, any number oneor more-may be used without departing from thespirit of my invention.

WVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

1. In a rotary steam-engine, the combination, with the revolvingcylinder journaled on stationary heads at each end, of a piston mountedeccentrically on the shaft whose hub is packed steam-tight against theinner periphery of said rotating cylinder, substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. In a rotary steam-engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder withthe stationary heads and the packing-disks equal in 'diameter andprovided with packing-rings and placed in the ends or the cylinder,substantially as shown and described.

3. In a rotary engine, the combination of a rotary cylinder withstationary heads which are reduced on their inner sides to form bearingsfor the cylinder, with packing-disks provided with packing-rings placedin the ends of the cylinder, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a rotary'engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder withstationary heads,which are reduced on their inner faces to form journalsfor the cylinder, and a shaft passing eccentrically through the saidcylinder and reduced portion of the heads, substantially as shown anddescribed.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder with ashaft whose axis is eccentric to said cylinder which rotates on thestationary cylinder-heads, and the adjustable stuffing-box around theshaft, substantially as shown and described.

6. Ina rotary engine, the combination of a rotatingcylinderwith pistonspassing through said cylinder and provided with packing around the hub,the shaft attached to the piston, and the adjustable pillow-block forsaid shaft, whereby the piston may be adjusted to keep the packing incontact with the cylinder, substantially as shown and described. I

7. In a rotary engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder revolvingon stationary heads with a piston passing through its side mounted uponthe shaft,and a packingaround the hub of the piston consisting of two expansion-rings and a packing-ring.

8. In a rotary engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder revolvingon stationary heads with a piston passing through its side mounted upona shaft whose center is eccentric to the center of the cylinder, saidpiston having packingaround its hub consistingof two expansion-ringsprovided with annular cavities in their inner periphery for thereception of springs, and a packing-ring, substantially as shown anddescribed.

9. In a rotary engine, a rotating cylinder revolving on stationaryheads, in combination Y with a piston which passes throughiits sides andmounted upon a shaft which is eccentric to the cylinder, packing-ringsaround the hub consisting of two expansion-rings having recesses ontheir inner periphery for the reception of springs, and a packing-ringand the strips for packing the sides of the piston, substantially asshown and described.

10. In a rotary engine, the combination of a rotating cylinder withpiston mounted upon a shaft eccentric to said cylinder, the cylindricalguides through which the piston passes, and the key in the guide fortaking up wear, substantially as shown and described.

11. In a rotary engine, the combination of a'rotating cylinder with a'piston mounted upon a shaft eccentric to said cylinder, said pistonpassing through a cylindrical guide, which is provided with a taperingkey on the side and packing-strips on its ends, said strip havingcavities through which the packing strips in the face of the pistonpass, substantially as shown and described.

12. In a rotary engine, the combination of the valve with itsseat'having two p0rts,with means for cutting off twice at each stroke ofthe valve.

13. In a rotary engine, the combination of the two steam-chests andtheir cut-off valves with the reversing exhaust-valves .2 and g wherebythe engine can be reversed, substantially as shown and described.

14:. In a rotary engine, the combination of the two rotating cylindersjournaled on sta tionary heads, two'pistons mounted and fixed upon ashaft eccentric to said cylinders, the brackets for holding the innerheads in position and forming the steam-chest and casing around theshaft, substantially as shown and described.

15. In a rotary engine, the combination of the two valves and theirchests with the doublelinks and their eccentrics, whereby one valve isheld in position to control the exhaust while the other is acting toadmit and cut off the steam, substantially as shown and described.

16. In a rotary engine, the combination of a revolving cylinder with apiston mounted on the shaft which is eccentric to said cylinder, of apacking for the hub consisting of the packing-ring, the expansion-ringsprovided with recesses for the reception of the springs, the pins forspacing the springs, and the springs, substantially as shown anddescribed.

17. In a rotary engine, the combination of a revolving cylinder with apiston mounted on a shaft which is eccentric to said cylinder,

of packing around the hub, provided with spacing-pins which hold thepacking-springs in position, substantially as shown and described.

18. In a rotary engine having a rotating 19. In a rotary engine having arotating cylinder, pistons passing through guides located in the side ofthe cylinder, and packing-strips held in cavities and provided withprojections for holding the springs in place,

substantially as set forth.

20. In a rotary engine, the combination of two steam-chests with theirvalves and double links pivoted stationary to a lever traveling on anarc and operated by eccentrics at the ends, whereby one valve is held inposition to control the exhaust while the other is acting to admit andcut off the steam, for the purpose set forth.

21. In a rotary engine, the combination of steam chests and valves anddouble links pivoted at the center and operated by eccentrics at theends, whereby one valve is held in position to control the exhaust whilethe other is acting to admit and cut off the steam, for the purpose setforth.

22. In a rotary engine, arotating cylinder in which are journaled guidesand a cap attached to said cylinder, so as to confine the steam escapingaround and through said guides, for the purpose set forth.

23. In a rotary engine, a rotating cylinder in which are journaledguides and a cap n which the pistons-play, said cap clearing saidpistons and confining the steam, for the purpose set forth.

24. The combination, in a rotary engine, of cylinders revolving on innerand outer stationary heads, the inner stationary heads being connectedby a bracket, substantially as set forth.

25. The combination, in a rotary engine, of cylinders revolving on innerand outer stationary heads, the ihner stationary heads being connectedby a bracket which is adapted to hold the steam-chest in positionbetween said cylinders, said bracket also acting as a brace to stiffenthe said inner heads,substantially as set forth.

26. In a rotary engine, the combination,

' with a revolving cylinder, of pistons mounted on a driving-shaft andpassing through the side of the cylinder, the said pistons being mounteddiametrically opposite on said driving shaft, so as to avoiddead-center, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL GLENVILLE BROSIUS.

Vitn esses:

J. HENRY KAISER, 'M. D. CONVERSE.

